UK

[elisedance]

Fraid I've been away too long to have any contacts there - not sure if we have any active English members right now... let me see who I can dig up!

[elisedance]

wait a mo cdnsalsanut is just leaving for england in a few days and staying not that far from there.  I wonder if he will have any insight when he returns - you might PM him directly...

[maccer]

wait a mo cdnsalsanut is just leaving for england in a few days and staying not that far from there.  I wonder if he will have any insight when he returns - you might PM him directly...

Thanks for that info E. I've just PM'd him direct. 

[cdnsalsanut]

Reporting from England...

Well, got here and attended my first tea dance today, in Ewell, Surrey.  Turns out I knew 8 different people from my 6 months on the QE2 nd QM2 last year, one is one of my favourites, Sylvie.  One of the dance hosts jobs on the QE2 was to host a table for dinner each night and my favourite table for the entire 6 months had this lady on it.  It was a Norwegian cruise.

We had a lovely time and she and rest of the table were very gracious.

After that I had some crummy tables, nothing worse than being stuck with boors or drunks and so begged off that duty for the rest of the summer. Anyway, Mr Wonderful runs this dance and he's very popular around London and this area, so there are a number of tea and evening dances to look forward to.

Also, my teachers Larissa and Alex advised that Cheam in Surrey has excellent dance studio called dance options, they studied there off and on.  So I'll get there a few times for practice and the like.

I'm liking it all so far, though the dance was very social and unless I'm with one of my dance partners it's hard to get up for it.  It was packed so lots of arms down shuffling so as not to tip over the old folks.  It was nice to see so many friendly faces though...

[Dora-Satya Veda]

Where abouts are they going to stay MCC?

They're still trying to sort that out. They hope to stay somewhere like Surrey and would like to have it organised before leaving Australia. They've booked a few nights in a London motel for when they first arrive. Does anyone have any ideas?

Surrey is a very, very big area. It can take hours to go from one end to the other.

If I were you then I would find out where they are going to take majority of their lessons. Find out who they are going to have lessons from. It might be an idea to choose teachers that teach out of the same studio. It can take anywhere from 2 to 4 hours with bus or train between studios. They will have a little more freedom if they are renting a car. It would then take about 40 minutes to an hour between some of the studios.

[cdnsalsanut]

My teacher, Larissa Keuball and Alexandre Chalkevitch told me about Cheam, where they studied.  At dance options.  Apparently it's one of the best schools in England and I notice that a couple of my hero's, Jonathon Crossely and Lynn Mariner teach there.  They also list Arunis and Katusha among their teachers.  I had the good fortune to see that couple dance a couple of times already this year, in Toronto and MOntreal and they are indeed a pleasure to watch.

Im in West Sussex now and it's about an hour from here to Cheam by car. Bus or train you can double the time.

[elisedance]

..which makes you wonder how a train can be so slow - I mean there are no traffic jams, traffic lights, (almost never) accidents....
BR used to be an amazing way to travel to almost every large village in england!

[cdnsalsanut]

Here is the website for the Dance Options school in Cheam, Surrey.  And...they have a whole page about accomodations:

http://www.danceoptions.com/accomodation.php

That should help

clinton

[elisedance]

..from our reporter at large ...
er, figuratively speaking of course

[Dora-Satya Veda]

..which makes you wonder how a train can be so slow - I mean there are no traffic jams, traffic lights, (almost never) accidents....
BR used to be an amazing way to travel to almost every large village in england!

There is not direct route between the studios (they are on different lines). The train system works like a compass. You will have to go into London to get to the center and then work your way out a new compass direction. Say going from Semley to Kingston you will have to take the train to Clapham Junction and then change to a line that goes to Kingston. So that means you go from Norbury north to Clapham Junction then wait for a train to take you south west to Kingston. This trip could take 3 - 4 hours. It should take 45 minutes to one hour, if you know the short cuts, by car.

[cdnsalsanut]

Ha ha Dora!

Small world!  I'm heading to Cheam tonight for the class/social at Dance Options and then to Kingston for some salsa at the Kingston Dance Studio.  Sounds like you are very familiar with this area.

I'm going to a few of the Mr Wonderful events around the southeast here, are there any good ballroom socials or studio's you recommend in London or area here in West Sussex (within 1 hr anyway)

[Dora-Satya Veda]

Ha ha Dora!

Small world!  I'm heading to Cheam tonight for the class/social at Dance Options and then to Kingston for some salsa at the Kingston Dance Studio.  Sounds like you are very familiar with this area.

I'm going to a few of the Mr Wonderful events around the southeast here, are there any good ballroom socials or studio's you recommend in London or area here in West Sussex (within 1 hr anyway)

I have been to London for dance lessons. I don't really know much about the social scene in London. I know many competitors go to Dance Options (Cheam), Semly (Norbury), Starlight (Streatham) and Grafton Ballroom (I think Dulwich or something to sounding similar to that) for practice. There used to be tea dances in a place called the Rivoli but can't remember what the town was called. It was about 40 minutes east of Crystal Palace. Sorry, I am not able to help you any more then that. There might be more information in Dance News.

[cdnsalsanut]

Hmm had a great time yesterday.  Went to the Mr Wonderful social dance in Greys at the Thurrock Civic hall and it was fantastic.  Not too many people and they all could dance.  It was my good fortune that Janet Clayton was there, British senior closed champion 2007 and we ended up dancing all night.  Wonderful. She is friends with Mr wonderful and I was there with my friend, who is a cerocer and we do mostly latin together.  Which meant Janet and I could cut the rug quite a bit and it was dreamy. There were a few good dancers there and I really enjoyed it.

Tonight we're going salsa dancing at sante fe in bluewater, which I visited last year and really enjoyed the salsa scene.

[elisedance]

sounds like you are haveing THE amazing time... going to be hard to get you back here from the sounds of things

[maccer]

My son and his partner left for the UK today. They'll be staying in KL tonight and then on to London tomorrow evening. I certainly had mixed feelings watching them board the plane. They've found accommodation in Crystal Palace. Their initial 6 months trip has now grown to up to 2 years. They have their lessons booked with both latin and ballroom coaches. They are eager to learn as much as they can. I'm already missing them, but I'm so excited for them both.